Patentable/Patents/US-7863137
US-7863137

Methods of fabricating field effect transistors having protruded active regions

PublishedJanuary 4, 2011
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

Provided are a field effect transistor, a method of manufacturing the same, and an electronic device including the field effect transistor. The field effect transistor may have a structure in which a double gate field effect transistor and a recess channel array transistor are formed in a single transistor in order to improve a short channel effect which occurs as field effect transistors become more highly integrated, a method of manufacturing the same, and an electronic device including the field effect transistor. The field effect transistor can exhibit stable device characteristics even when more highly integrated in such a manner that both the length and width of a channel increase and particularly the channel can be significantly long, and can be manufactured simply.

Patent Claims
11 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A method of manufacturing a field effect transistor, the method comprising: forming a first hard mask pattern on a semiconductor substrate; etching the semiconductor substrate using the first hard mask pattern as an etching mask to define an active region; forming a device isolation film on the semiconductor substrate; forming a second hard mask pattern on the first hard mask pattern and device isolation film; anisotropically etching portions of the semiconductor substrate and the device isolation film using the second hard mask pattern as an etching mask; isotropically etching the active region; forming a gate insulation layer on the active region; and forming a gate electrode on the active region.

2

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the active region extends in a first direction and has a top surface that is higher than the top surfaces of the semiconductor substrate on either side of the active region.

3

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gate electrode covers a top surface and first and second side surfaces of the active region.

4

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein portions of the first hard mask pattern that are not covered by the second hard mask pattern are removed during the anisotropic etching of the semiconductor substrate and the device isolation film.

5

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein top surfaces of terminal edges of lower portions of the active regions are positioned below top surfaces of the device isolation films that are adjacent to the active regions by the isotropic etching.

6

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anisotropic etching etches the portions of the active region that are not covered by the first hard mask pattern to a predetermined depth.

7

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the width of the first hard mask pattern is greater than the width of the device isolation film.

8

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the isotropic etching is performed until the width of the active region is substantially the same as the width of the device isolation film.

9

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the gate electrode comprises depositing a gate material film on the first hard mask pattern, the semiconductor substrate and the device isolation film and then planarizing the gate material film using the first hard mask pattern as a stopping layer.

10

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: back-etching the gate electrode to a predetermined depth; depositing a capping material on a top surface of the gate electrode; and planarizing the capping material using the first hard mask pattern as a stopping layer.

11

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: removing the first hard mask pattern; forming an insulation layer on the gate electrode, the semiconductor substrate and the device isolation film; and isotropically etching the insulation layer to form a spacer.

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Patent Metadata

Filing Date

December 16, 2009

Publication Date

January 4, 2011

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